Superintendent Weekly Update- March 17 , 2025

Good Afternoon,
Please find my weekly update below.

Budget:  Last week, during a special meeting, the Board of Education approved $6 million dollars in cuts from my proposed Superintendent's budget of a 12.58% increase over last year's adjusted budget.  The Board of Education budget presented to the Board of Finance this Wednesday night will be $140,839,684, a 7.89% increase over last year's budget.  Please see Board of Finance Budget Hearing Meeting Agenda for more information and for a link to access the meeting virtually.

2026 Teacher of the Year Nominations: The Teacher of the Year program allows our community to recognize the excellence of our teachers.  Bristol Public Schools educators and families are invited to submit nominations for the Bristol 2026 Teacher of the Year.  All nominations are due to the Office of Teaching and Learning no later than March 21, 2025.  Click here for the nomination form:  https://forms.gle/6oDRjNrUQjuP3krh9.

Invention Convention at South Side:  This past Friday morning,  I  had the pleasure of participating as a judge for South Side's 10th Annual Invention Convention.  Many thanks to Miss Leandra Ferony, a 3rd-grade teacher at South Side, for organizing the event, which featured our talented students whose creativity, innovation, and hard work shone through as they brought their imaginative ideas to life.  Congratulations to the two finalists, Journey and Sebastian, who will represent South Side at the Connecticut State Innovation Convention at UCONN in April.  

   

Model UN:  This past week, Bristol Eastern High School's Model UN Club participated in the Model UN Conference in NYC. Model United Nations (MUN) is a student simulation of the proceedings of the United Nations. Students, referred to as Delegates, are assigned a country to represent in one of the UN’s numerous committees with pre-set topics to debate. They research the background of their country and their country’s position on the topics at hand and prepare notes on possible solutions to the problems faced. Students then convene at Model UN conferences ranging in size from 100 to 5,000 delegates to debate their assigned topics with students representing the other UN member states. Much like the real UN, the goal is to identify solutions through negotiation and consensus, on which many countries can agree. A Special Thank You to Mr. John Stavens for his dedicated service as the Club Advisor for Bristol Eastern's Model UN. Please enjoy the pictures from the conference by clicking here.

Save the Date for Family Fun Day:  On June 21, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Bristol Early Childhood Alliance (BECA), in partnership with the United Way of West Central Connecticut, will host our third annual Family Fun Day.  This event will be held in the field at the BAIMS along Memorial Boulevard.  The rain date will be June 22, 2025.  The Family Fun Day will provide resources, vendors, fun, touch-a-truck, and free games to children under nine and their families who live in Bristol.  

In partnership,

Iris White
Acting Superintendent of Schools

Superintendent’s Weekly Update Archive